A Major ‘Arrow’ Character Finally Confirmed ‘I’m Gay’

A major character on Arrow, the CW series based on DC Comics superhero Green Arrow, finally confirmed that he’s gay.

William Clayton, the son of the CW show’s titular lead, has casually indicated that he’s not straight in past episodes. Last fall, the older version of the character — the one played by Ben Lewis, not the younger one played by Jack Moore — mentioned an ex-boyfriend of his, a subtle confirmation of his apparent not-straightness.

On Monday night’s episode of the series, now in its seventh season, William made that confirmation a whole lot less subtle. When asked if he and Felicity Smoak used to date, William says, “God, no! I’m gay, and she’s my mom.”

“[This] may be my favorite line of dialogue ever,” tweeted Lewis, who happens to be gay himself.

This is the first time that William has used the word “gay” to describe himself on the show, the CW confirmed to Out.

William isn’t the only LGBTQ+ character found in the CW’s stacked lineup of superhero programming — he’s not even the only one found on Arrow. There’s Nafessa Williams’ lesbian character on Black Lightning, Nicole Maines’ trans character on Supergirl, Matt Ryan’s bisexual Constantine throughout the Arrowverse, and Ruby Rose’s soon-to-be lesbian Batwoman. If only DC Comics’ film adaptations were this diverse! Deadpool 2 had the openly girlfriend-having Negasonic Teenage Warhead, played by Brianna Hildebrand, but that’s basically it.